One and Only
by phoebe9509
Summary: Emily realizes her feelings for Hotch and decides to tell him.
1. Chapter 1

_I've been going through a lot recently and this story idea just popped into my head. Let me know what you think if you have the chance. _

There was something about him, of that she was certain. But knowing what exactly that something was, she hadn't the slightest clue. But whatever it was made her go weak in the knees whenever he looked at her. It made her heart race when he spoke only to her. And the more time she spent around him made it harder for her to get over her crush.

She knew she had to get over her feelings. Nothing would ever come from them. He wasn't that guy and she definitely wasn't that girl. There was no doubt about what people would say if she started sleeping with her boss. Although in her defense it wouldn't just be sleeping with him, she was in love with him. There was no doubt in her mind about that.

When Emily first realized she was in love with her boss, shock ran through her entire body. How on earth could she be in love with someone who didn't even know her? How could she love someone when she barely knew anything personal about him? It made no sense, but her feelings got shoved into a tiny little box in her head and were pushed to the back.

But then everything came spilling out full force when he was the one who came and saved her from the UNSUB. He was her own personal superhero and she began to think maybe Jack was right. Hotch came swooping into the small room and took the UNSUB out before Emily even registered what was happening. She was vaguely aware that he was kneeling in front of her, but all her mind could do was replay what just happened.

After a minute of not responding to him, Hotch finally cupped her face and made her look at him. When her eyes locked with his, she saw the intense fire in them. Hotch asked again if she was alright and this time she nodded her head, not trusting her voice. Then an amazing thing happened that Emily knew she'd never forget. Hotch gave her a half smile and sighed with relief then slowly ran his hand through her long hair. If Emily didn't already have fantasies about the man before her, she definitely would have that night.

Her heart had fluttered at the sentiment and she had to wonder if he had feelings for her as well, but that thought was quickly flown from her mind when Reid came in and Hotch left him in charge of her. She almost died and he was leaving her with Reid to protect her? Maybe he didn't care.

Not long after the UNSUB incident Emily knew she had to come clean. In all honesty she had no idea what Hotch would say when she confessed her feelings to him, but she knew that she had too. What's the point of living if you never take chances? And possibly being happy with him was one chance she needed to take. After finally mustering up enough courage, Emily took a deep breath then walked the short distance from her room to Hotch's and knocked softly on the door.

Hotch opened the door and arched an eyebrow. "Is everything alright Prentiss?"

"Can I come in?"

"Of course," Hotch stepped back and let Emily pass him as he closed the door. Hotch turned back to look at her and found her standing near the wall. "What's going on?" he asked concerned.

"Well, I, uh…" Emily trailed off.

"What's wrong?"

"I care about you," Emily blurted out before she could stop herself. "I think about you more than I should and I've realized that you're the only one that I want. All I'm asking for is a chance." Emily watched in horror as Hotch's eyes grew wide as he unconsciously took a step back.

"I don't really know what to say."

Emily felt her heart break at his words because she knew nothing was going to stop her tears from making an appearance and that was definitely the last thing she wanted. "Oh."

Hotch couldn't help but feel regret as she dropped her head and began to play with her nails. "I'm sorry," he whispered softly.

"All I want is to be able to get to know you," Emily sighed as she lifted her gaze back to him. "You have a relationship with everyone else on the team. They all know personal things about you, and I feel like we have nothing," she told him sadly. "Maybe it's because of how things were when I first started, I don't know, but I'd like to know you better."

Hotch shifted his weight nervously. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea Prentiss."

At her last name a tear escaped Emily's eye and Hotch took a step forward to wipe it away but he stopped himself.

"Did I imagine everything?" she mumbled.

"What?" Hotch asked confused by her question.

"All the signs? Were they all in my head? Just something I wanted to see?" Emily took a deep breath, "all the little glances and touches, were they really there?"

"No," Hotch whispered then cursed himself as he watched her nod, bite her lip then close her eyes as more tears escaped. "I never wanted to hurt you."

"Do you even want to know me?" she asked with her eyes closed knowing she couldn't deal with seeing the way he pitied her.

"Of course I do," Hotch answered honestly. "I apologize for making you feel like we don't have the open relationship I have with the rest of the team. That's probably my fault."

Emily opened her eyes slowly and leaned against the wall. "If you got to know me better Hotch, I swear you'd love me. You'll never know if you don't try, I promise you that I'm worth it. Don't you want to find out?"

Hotch took in her defeated stance. "Emily," he whispered as he moved closer, "if we start something and things went bad or Strauss found out we'd be separated. Could you handle that? Because I couldn't. I'd rather have you as a friend then risk the chance of losing you."

"I just _want_ a chance," Emily sobbed as another tear rolled silently down her cheek.

Hotch couldn't fight it anymore. He stepped closer and rubbed his thumb over her smooth cheek, ridding the object of her tears. "If it was a different situation Emily I'd happily give us a chance. In a heartbeat," he confessed as he brought his other hand up to cup her other cheek. "If I wasn't your boss, or if Strauss wasn't always watching us like a hawk I'd say let's do it, but I value you too much to risk your career for something we don't know where it'd go."

Emily's hand came up to rest on top of his as her heart felt like it was going to burst through her chest. "So you…"

"Of course," he answered her question before she even had to ask. "The looks and the touches _are_ there and I'm so sorry that I can't give you what you want."

"You'll never know if you don't try though," she told him sadly.

"There is just too much to risk."

Emily nodded and felt her lip quiver.

"Please don't cry Emily." Hotch leaned down and placed his forehead against hers. "God I wish things were different, but they aren't. That's why I keep my distance with you, because I can't get distracted, and if I get too close it'll only end in disaster. You deserve better."

"I deserve you," she breathed out. "I only want you. I don't care about the consequences Hotch."

"I'm sorry," he repeated for the hundredth time before he backed away from her slowly, causing her to look down at the floor. "I don't want things to be different between us now."

Emily nodded her head. "We'll just pretend this conversation never happened. Sorry to bother you sir," she cried out as she opened the door quickly and sprinted down the hall and rushed into her room, leaving Hotch gazing at the door with regret on his mind.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you all so much for reading my story and taking the time to review. I really appreciate it. I hope you all like this ending. I would like to dedicate this story to the best dog a girl could have ever had. I miss you so much! :'(_

The next morning Emily literally rolled out of bed and dreaded the day ahead of her. She was in no mood to be on a plane with Hotch for two hours with no way to escape because regardless of the fact that she said they'd act like nothing happened, she was positive neither of them were that good of actors. As Emily looked into the mirror while she got ready she cursed herself for not bringing all of her makeup because her eyes needed some help in concealing the puffiness that came with crying herself to sleep.

Emily mentally prepared herself as she gripped her door knob. She could do this. It wouldn't be as bad as it seemed. All she had to do was make it home in one piece then she'd have two days away from him. But as she opened her door and watched as Hotch turned his head to look at her on his way by and he gave a nod, she knew this day was going to be hell. Just seeing him and a nod sent Emily's heart into a cartwheel session in her chest and she cursed herself for letting him affect her. But in the back of her mind she should have known getting over him would be anything but easy.

Emily shut the door behind her and followed after Hotch and they waited in silence for the elevator. Finally the doors opened and the pair stepped inside.

"Did you sleep well?" Hotch asked as he took in her appearance out of the corner of his eye. When she had opened her hotel door he saw how red her eyes were and it frustrated him that he caused that. In the end he knew they had to be friends. They had to get over this hiccup and get back to normal.

"Yes," Emily answered in her political voice which caused Hotch to turn and look at her. When she refused to look his way he finally turned back and focused his gaze on the control panel before him. The doors opened slowly and he watched as Emily practically ran out and headed towards the car waiting to take them to the airport. Luckily for her, Reid was already waiting so she didn't have to talk to Hotch.

Emily boarded the plane first and picked the seat farthest away from the crowd and shoved her bag down next to her telling everyone she didn't want company. Hotch couldn't help but pick a seat that faced Emily so he could silently torture himself. He secretly watched her as she put her IPod on and closed her eyes, not once looking up at him. Was she going to act like they weren't friends? Last night she said she wanted to get to know him, but did she change her mind? In the end he knew getting closer and opening up would be a bad idea, but that didn't stop a small part of him from wanting to.

Half way through the flight Hotch put his paperwork down and headed towards the bathroom. His gaze stayed on Emily and he was genuinely surprised when he saw her entire body tense as he got closer. Hotch frowned as he passed her. She had an IPod in and she still knew he was walking towards her. Why did she tense up? Did she think he was going to sit by her and talk? Hotch figured Emily was smart enough to know that if he was going to talk to her it would not be on a plane full of their friends. Hotch quickly finished up then headed back to his seat and it was only after he was buckled back in that he noticed Emily relax. Another frown crossed his usual stoic features at her actions and he couldn't school them quickly enough before she opened her eyes and locked hers onto his.

Emily saw the frown and she knew he noticed her tense up. Great, she thought, that's the last thing she needed. She tried to smile to erase his worries but she knew she fell short when he continued to look at her. Emily couldn't help but look away from his fierce gaze and bite her lip to keep herself from screaming out loud. Things were so awkward now and she only had herself to blame. Why did she have to open her big mouth? What did she plan on accomplishing by doing that? Last night she complained because she felt like she didn't have a relationship with him, and now there was no doubt in her mind that she wasn't going to have _any_ sort of relationship with him. Things were going to be awkward and tense and no good would come of it.

Emily could only curse herself as she brushed past Hotch and ran down the steps once the doors opened. In all honesty she had never been so embarrassed in her life and the fact that Hotch turned her away just made it all so much worse. She quickly got into a car with Morgan and Reid then headed to the BAU to get her car. Screw the paperwork and screw spending the rest of the day around him.

She needed the weekend off to figure out what the hell she was going to do and as she got out of the SUV and headed to her car after quickly mumbling her goodbyes to the two men, she knew she was going to need more than a weekend to deal with this mess.

Hotch finally pulled into a parking space in the garage and slowly made his way up to the right floor. He had to talk to Prentiss. Things could not continue on like this. Hotch walked through the glass doors and arched an eyebrow as she stopped at Emily's desk. "Where's Prentiss?" he asked the two men sitting finishing their paperwork.

"She went home," Reid said simply.

"Why?"

"She didn't feel good," Morgan supplied as he went about his work.

Hotch groaned softly as he headed up to his office. Emily left because she didn't want to have him around, of that he was certain. As Hotch tucked himself into his office, he had to wonder whether or not things were ever going to get better, and if he lost her forever. Her friendship was something he wanted and now he wasn't sure if he had it or not.

At 4 o'clock Hotch made up his mind, he didn't care what the consequences might be, he didn't care if he would lose everything, he wanted her. So Hotch quickly packed up his things and dashed out of the office, leaving the left over agents to stare after him with a questioning look in their eyes.

Hotch paced in front of Emily's door for five minutes debating on whether to knock or not. He wasn't sure what to say, but he knew he had to fix things. So after taking a deep breath, he firmly knocked three times on her door and waited patiently for her to answer.

The door slowly opened to reveal Emily holding a container of ice cream in her hands. "What are you doing here?" she asked him quickly as she put the container down on the table and folded her arms over her chest.

"You left," he said finally.

"I know," Emily returned with a duh tone of voice.

Hotch wasn't sure what planned on coming out of his mouth, but he knew deep down that his mind and heart wouldn't let him down, so he took a step closer and said the first thing that came to his mind. "I don't want to live in a world without you in it. Your smile, laugh, charm, wit, heart—all of those things make you the woman I fell for. I don't want to risk losing those things because of some fling." Hotch rushed on when he saw her open her mouth to protest. "But I also don't want to sit idly by and never take a chance on what we could be. I think you could be just what I need and I'm sorry I almost threw the chance away. I love you Emily Prentiss and I would be honored if I could take you to dinner one night."

As Emily stood there silent Hotch began to wonder if she had changed her mind. If how he treated her last night made her decide that it wouldn't be worth the risk, so he did the only thing left to do. Hotch stepped forward and cupped her face in between his hands.

"May I kiss you?" he asked which caused Emily to laugh lightly. Always the gentleman, she thought to herself.

"Yes," Emily whispered as her heart pounded rapidly against her chest making her believe he could hear it, he slowly tilted his head then paused slightly before finally pressing his lips against hers.

Emily's mind reeled and tears rushed to her closed eyes at how gentle and sweet his kiss was. Hotch let his hand trail through her hair pulling her closer, as his tongue traced along her bottom lip. Emily opened her mouth and Hotch let his tongue tangle with hers which caused Emily to moan softly. Her arms tightened around his hips and held him close.

Emily pulled back and looked into Hotch's dark lust filled eyes and smiled. "I guess I am that girl," she whispered and Hotch shot her a quizzical look. "I never thought I'd be the type of girl that fell for my boss," she explained.

"Well I never thought I'd fall for my subordinate if it makes you feel any better," he deadpanned.

Emily wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to where her lips were almost touching his. "Well look at us, I guess we were both wrong, we are that guy and girl," she smiled before kissing him again.

"There's no one else I'd rather be," Hotch told her as his hands landed on her hips, giving them a squeeze before kissing her again. And as his tongue once again met hers, and she emitted a small moan into his mouth, Hotch realized that this was one activity he knew he would never get tired of.


End file.
